Interlocking building assembly



Jan. 20, 1959 T. G. HASSETT 2,859,692

. INTERLOCKING BUILDING ASSEMBLY Filed July 25. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INV EN TOR.

THOMAS G; HAssE'rT' Jan. 20, 1959 H ssE -r 2,869,692

INTERLOCKING BUILDING ASSEMBLY Filed July 23. 1954 2, Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR. THOMAS G- HASSE'I'T INTEELQCKlNtG BUKLDING ASSEMBLY Thomas G.lilassett, West Hamilton Beach, N. Y.

Application July 23, 1954, Serial No. 445,217

6 Claims. (Cl. 189-444) To provide a composite unit of considerablestrength in relation to its weight; and

To: permit manufacture of the parts. of the unit by mass productionmethods, at a relatively low unit cost.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of z the objects andadvantages thereof, reference will be had to the following descriptionand accompanying drawings, and to the appended claiins in which thevarious novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. lis a perspective view of the assembled unit.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective View of a tie bar.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a coupling block.

Pig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of akey retainer.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a panel retainer, partlybroken away.

Fig. 6' is an enlarged perspective view of a panel.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of a holding pin.

Fig. 8 is an exploded, fragmentary top plan view showing one of thecoupling blocksimmediately. prior to its assembly with a tie bar;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing the blockassembled with adjacent tie bars.

Fig. 10 is a sectional view on line ill-1i) of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is an enlarged sectional view on line 11,-i1 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 12 is an enlarged sectional view. on line l2-ll2 of Fig.1.

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary perspective view ofa modified tie bar.

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary view of a modified coupling block.

The assembled unit shown in Fig. 1 is made up of five diflerent types ofcooperating elements, shown in Figs. 2 through 7. These include a tiebar 24 (Fig. 2); a coupling block 22 (Fig. 3); a key retainer 24 (Fig.4); a panel retainer 26 (Fig. 5); a panel 255 (Fig. 6); and aholding pin3i) (Fig. 7).

The tie bar, four of which are used in assembling the unit, includes anelongated body 325 of square cross section. Cut into each corner of thebody 32 is agroove of angular cross section, disposed radially of thebody, each groove extending thefull length of the body. The groovescooperate to define dovetail tongues 34 extending Patented Jan. 29,lfibd longitudinally of the body from end to end thereof, over the fullarea of each longitudinal surface or face of the body. The tie bar ishollowed out into a tubular form, to permit the passage of electricwiring (not shown) therethrough.

The'ends of the body are cut ofl squarely, and formed upon and extendingbeyond each end of the body is a pair of jaws 36, saidijaws being bowedinwardly toward oneanother.

Each coupling block22is of square or cubical formation, and all edgesthereof arecut inwardly to provide, on each surface or face of thecoupling block, a rectangular, flattened locking projection 38 havingundercut sides.

Four of the coupling blocks are used in the assembly of a singlebuilding unit, one at each corner of the unit.

The key retainer 24 is fashioned from rigid sheet metal material, and.includes a flat, square, plate-like body ill, each edge of which is,integral with a flange or lip 42 that is turned inwardly atanjangle of45 to the plane of the plate-like body. The opposite ends of each flangeor lip 42 are cut away or beveled obliquely.

Four key retainers 24. are used in the: assembly of each unit, oneateach corner.

The panel retainer is also formed from rigid sheet metal material, andincludes an elongated, rectangular, flat, plate-like body 44 integral atits opposite ends with end tongues or flanges 46. Each flange 4-6 isbeveled at its opposite ends, and each flange 45 is obtusely related atan angle of 45 to the body 44-.

Integrally formeduponthe opposite side or longitudinal edges of the body44, andextending the full length of the body, are sideflanges 43, thesebeing turned under as shown in Fig. 5,,at acute angles to the body Asshown in Fig. 9 the opposite ends of. each flange 43 are pointed, thepointed end portion of each flange 48 extending beyond. the adjacent endof body 44.

Four of the panel retainers 26 are utilized, one at each side of thebuilding unit.

The panel member 28 is framed by the parts previously described herein,and is formed as a large, rectangular sheet of material shaped with aflat body 54?, integral at its several edges with narrow flanges 52,each of which is obtusely related to the body 50.

A single panel member 28 is used in the assembly of a single buildingunit.

In Fig. 7 there is shown a holding pin 3d] of wire material, having a Ushape, the. opposite legs being of a springable nature, so as to beyieldably and resiliently sprung away from one another during theassembly of the panel. Each leg of the spring clip or holding pin 30includes, at its free end, an inwardly turned finger 53.

In assembly of the building unit, the first step is to assemble arectangular outer frame, composed of the tie bars and coupling blocks.Each tie bar is detachably connected at its oppositeends to couplingblocks 22, and to eifect the connection, one need simply shift the tiebar toward the associated coupling block, or vice versa as shown in Fig.8, so as to engage jaws 36 with the undercut sides of the adjacentprojection 33. The tie bar is thus engaged in end-abutting relation tothe adjacent coupling blocks used at the corners of the building panel.

Since projections 38 are provided on all. faces of the coupling block, asingle block can be connected to a plurality of tie bars. Not only can asingle unit be con structed, but also, adjacent units, each formed as inFig. i, can be connected in perpendicular planes, to permit assembly ofthe building without the necessity of tools or the like. Further,adjacent units can be connected in coplanar relation so that a number ofunits can be used to form asingle wall.

7 Each jaw 36 has an opening 54, and after the coupling blocks and tiebars have been assembled as discussed above, a clip St is applied instraddling relation to the jaws 36 (see Fig. 10), with the fingers 53 ofthe spring clip engaging in the openings 54 of the jaws 36. Thislockably holds each tie bar assembled with its associated couplingblocks, preventing separation thereof in one direction. The assembledtie bars and coupling blocks define a rectangular-shaped opening, thedimensions of which are sufiicient to receive the panel member 59.

The panel member 5%) is now applied, with the flanges 52 thereofengaging in the angular grooves of the several tie bars, in the mannershown in Fig. 11. Panel retainers 26 are now slid lengthwise intoposition over a dovetail tongue 34 of a tie bar, the side flanges 48 ofthe p nel retainer engaging in thegrooves defined at opposite sides ofsaid dovetail tongue, to hold Within said grooves the flanges 52 of thepanel member. It will be understood that the panel retainers can bemounted on the front of the tie bars in the manner shown in Figs. 8 and9, during the assembly of the tie bars with the coupling blocks.

When each panel retainer is shifted into a position in which it isco-terminous with its associated tie bar, an end tongue 46 of the panelretainer will be interlocked with the adjacent undercut side of aprojection 38 of the coupling block 22, in the manner shown in Fig. 12.

Key retainers 2d are now applied, over each exposed projection 38, theinwardly turned lips 42 being engaged with its associated projection 38.Thereafter, the lips 42 will engage in the grooves provided in thecoupling block, to hold the end tongues of the panel retainers in place.

This completes the assembly of the building unit, and the final unitwill appear as in Fig. 1. This unit can be assembled with other units,as will be apparent, adjacent units being either normal to theillustrated unit, or in perpendicular relation thereto, whichever isdesired.

In Figs. 13 and 14 there are shown modified forms of the tie bar andcoupling block, respectively. The modified tie bar Ztl is in thisinstance of tubular formation, being shaped from sheet metal or thelike. This lightens the construction. The actual functionalcharacteristics and exterior configuration of the tie bar remainsunchanged, the tie bar having rabbeted grooves 34 in each face thereof,extending the full length of the tie bar. The jaws 3t in this form canbe made integral with opposite sides of the tie bar, as in the firstform, and are shaped as in the first form of the invention.

in Fig. 14 a modified coupling block 22 is shown, said block being ofopen frame or skeleton construction, rather than solid as in the firstform.' Again, the purpose is to lighten the structure withoutsacrificing strength.

Block 22 includes projections 38*, each of which projections is formedas a square, open frame 55, having arms 56 extending inwardly from theopposite ends thereof, the several arms 56 being integrally or otherwisefixedly joined at each corner of the block as shown, slots being shownbetween the projections and frame.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of myinvention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to theprecise constructions herein disclosed and the right is reserved to allchanges and modifications coming within the scope of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by United States Letters Patent is:

l. A building unit comprising a plurality of tie bars adapted to extendalong the several sides of the unit, coupling blocks at the severalcorners of the unit interengaging with said tie bars, means releasablylocking the tie bars and coupling blocks against relative separation, apanel member circumscribed by the tie bars, retainer means on the tiebars adapted to lock the panel member .in engagement with the tie bars,and key means on the blocks for holding the retainer means upon the tiebars, each of said coupling blocks being of substantially cubicalformation and having undercut edges defining projections on the severalfaces of the block, each tie bar including at opposite ends thereofextending jaws adapted to engage the undercut sides of an adjacentprojection, said firstnamed means comprising a spring clip of U-shapedformation adapted to straddle the extending jaws of each pair ofextending jaws to hold said jaws releasably interengaged with theprojection embraced therebetween.

2. A building unit comprising a plurality of tie bars adapted to extendalong the several sides of the unit, coupling blocks at the severalcorners of the unit interengaging with said tie bars, means releasablylocking the tie bars and coupling blocks against relative separation, apanel member circumscribed by the tie bars, retainer means on the tiebars adapted to lock the panel member in engagement with the tie bars,and key means on the blocks for holding the retainer means upon the tiebars, each of said coupling blocks being of substantially cubicalformation and having undercut edges defining projections on the severalfaces of the block, each tie bar including at opposite ends thereofextending jaws adapted to engage the undercut sides of an adjacentprojection, said firstnamed means comprising a spring clip of U-shapedformation adapted to straddle the extending jaws of each pair ofextending jaws to hold said jaws releasably interengaged with theprojection embraced therebetween, said jaws having apertures, each cliphaving inturned fingers at its ends engageable in said apertures.

3. A building unit comprising a plurality of tie bars adapted to extendalong the several sides of the unit, coupling blocks at the severalcorners of the unit interengaging with said tie bars, means releasablylocking the tie bars and coupling blocks against relative separation, apanel member circumscribed by the tie bars, retainer means on the tiebars adapted to lock the panel member in engagement with the tie bars,and key means on the blocks for holding the retainer means upon the tiebars, said retainer means comprising plate-like bodies adapted tooverlie said tie bars, each tie bar having undercut grooves extendinglongitudinally thereof, said bodies being flanged at their oppositesides to engage in said undercut grooves, said panel member havingflanges extending along the several edges thereof, said flanges beingengageable in the undercut grooves of the tie bars and being locked insaid grooves by the side flanges of the plate-like bodies, each of saidbodies having extending end tongues, each coupling block having groovesin its several edges in which said end tongues are engageable.

4. A building unit comprising a plurality of tie bars adapted to extendalong the several sides of the unit, coupling blocks at the severalcorners of the unit interengaging with said tie bars, means releasablylocking the tie bars and coupling blocks against relative separation, apanel member circumscribed by the tie bars, retainer means on the tiebars adapted to lock the panel member in engagement with the tie bars,and key means on theblocks for holding the retainer means upon the tiebars, said retainer means comprising plate-like bodies adapted tooverlie said tie bars, each tie bar having undercut grooves extendinglongitudinally thereof, said bodies being flanged at their oppositesides to engage in said undercut grooves, said panel member havingflanges extending along the several edges thereof, said flanges beingengageable in the undercut grooves of the tie bars and being locked insaid grooves by the side flanges of the plate-like bodies, each of saidbodies having extending end tongues, each coupling block having groovesin its several edges in which said end tongues are engageable, each ofsaid key retainers comprising a plate member having flanges at itsopposite ends engageable in the grooves of the coupling block, to holdsaid end tongues in the coupling block grooves.

5. A building unit comprising a plurality of tie bars.

adapted to extend along the several sides of the unit, coupling blocksat the several corners of the unit inter-engagmg with said tie bars,means releasably locking the tie bars and coupling blocks againstrelative separation, a panel member circumscribed by the tie bars,retainer means on the tie bars adapted to lock the panel member inengagement with the tie bars, and key means on the blocks for holdingthe retainer means upon the tie bars, said coupling blocks and tie barsbeing of skeletal formation.

6. A building unit comprising a plurality of tie bars adapted to extendalong the several sides of the unit, coupling blocks at the severalcorners of the unit interengaging with said tie bars, means releasablylocking the tie bars and coupling blocks against relative separation, apanel member circumscribed by the tie bars, retainer means on the tiebars adapted to lock the panel member in engagement with the tie bars,and key means on the blocks for holding the retainer means upon the tiebars,

each of said coupling blocks being of cubical formation, the severaledges of each coupling block being formed with slots so as to define, aneach face of the coupling block, a projection.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.22,693 Lindsay Nov. 20, 1945 850,275 Staples Apr. 16, 1907 923,810 BuddJune 8, 1909 1,089,499 Rockwell Mar. 10, 1914 1,281,856 Shaw Oct. 15,1918 1,716,624 Dawson June 11, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS 614,245 GreatBritain Dec. 13, 1948

